"The Maya and 2012: Fact, Fantasy, and Phenomenon"

by Simon Martin

In recent years there has been a gathering storm of publicity surrounding an "end of time" arriving on 23 December 2012. We are told that the ancient Maya calendar will come to a conclusion, and that this will cause dramatic changes-whether regenerative or catastrophic-to our world. Books, magazines, and websites, not to mention Hollywood blockbusters, have all joined the clarion calls. But what is the story behind the disconcerting headlines? What did the ancient Maya really believe would take place on this momentous date? Using hieroglyphic texts-including some only recently unraveled-we can form a better, and truer, picture of ancient Maya beliefs about time-reckoning and the cosmos, and the 2012 phenomenon they have inspired.

www.penn.museum/greatriddles